	US 12,192,275 B2
	Sparse peer with transient participation
Balaji Viswanathan, Bangalore (IN); Krishnasuri Narayanam, Bangalore (IN); Senthilnathan Natarajan, Bangalore (IN); and Vinayaka Pandit, Bangalore (IN)
Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed on Sep. 13, 2018, as Appl. No. 16/130,419.
Prior Publication US 2020/0092361 A1, Mar. 19, 2020
Int. Cl. H04L 67/1074 (2022.01); G06Q 20/22 (2012.01); H04L 9/00 (2022.01); H04L 9/06 (2006.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04L 67/1087 (2022.01); H04L 67/1095 (2022.01)

CPC H04L 67/1074 (2013.01) [G06Q 20/223 (2013.01); H04L 9/0637 (2013.01); H04L 63/123 (2013.01); H04L 67/1093 (2013.01); H04L 67/1095 (2013.01); H04L 9/50 (2022.05)]

20 Claims

1. A transient sparse peer in a blockchain network, the transient sparse peer comprising:

a memory storing one or more instructions; and

a processor that, when executing the one or more instructions, is configured to perform the operations of:

identifying a task to be performed by the transient sparse peer, wherein the task requires a time to bootstrap into the blockchain network that is less than a time required to bootstrap into the blockchain network a full peer having a complete blockchain ledger showing a full state of a blockchain;

in response to the task to be performed by transient sparse peer being identified,

connecting the transient sparse peer to a plurality of peers in the blockchain network, the plurality of peers comprising the complete blockchain ledger showing the full state of the blockchain;

identifying a latest state of assets related to a subset of transactions needed for the subset of transactions to be endorsed by an endorser peer of the plurality of peers in the blockchain network;

selecting a subset of data to be replicated based on the latest state;

specifying data selection filters required for the transient sparse peer to perform the task based on the subset of the data that has been selected, wherein a number of the data selection filters specified for the transient sparse peer is less than a full set of data selection filters required to process all data blocks by the full peer;

providing the data selection filters to the plurality of peers;

receiving blocks that match the data selection filters over a gossip protocol from the plurality of peers;

constructing a local ledger of the transient sparse peer from the blocks that have been received, the local ledger comprising a partial ledger showing a partial state of the blockchain, including the blocks that have received, wherein the partial state of the blockchain enables the transient sparse peer to bootstrap into the blockchain network more quickly than a full peer;

identifying that the transient sparse peer is current based on the partial state of the blockchain; and

bootstrapping the transient sparse peer based on the transient sparse peer being identified; and

in response to the task of the transient sparse peer being completed, converting the transient sparse peer back into the full peer by,

increasing the number of data selection filters used required by the transient sparse peer to the full set of data selection filters, and

scaling up the partial state of the blockchain to the full state of the blockchain using the full set of data selection filters.